I must say, I'm somewhat surprised by the lack of progression. Although the results in year 2, and the increasing USG rates do suggest that he's upped his game a little to cope with taking more shots.

Because, like most people, you are not looking at ORTG - a much better overall measure of offensive efficiency. 110 ORTG @ 28% USG is phenomenal. Right on the cusp of elite offensive players and on the same tier as Paul George and Kyrie Irving. We went through this on the Demar thread, if anybody has time to dig it up again.

Because, like most people, you are not looking at ORTG - a much better overall measure of offensive efficiency. 110 ORTG @ 28% USG is phenomenal. Right on the cusp of elite offensive players and on the same tier as Paul George and Kyrie Irving. We went through this on the Demar thread, if anybody has time to dig it up again.

Yeah, I was specifically referring to his mid range game. I know he's improved in other areas, like corner 3s and FTA and quite a few other intangibles this year.

Those percentages btw, were only for his mid range shots, not overall FG% or TS% or anything.

All good questions. And all very hard to answer. Stats-wise, to simplify, models like WS use .200 (twice the average) as the cutoff. Too simplistic though, and WS is great but not all encompassing (and role players can excel with high WS). Perhaps a player with .200 WS and high usage (but how high? 20% is too low as it is very common)... I don't know that I can define superstar explicitly. Offensively Harden is certainly a superstar, defensively not so much. But does one cancel out the other? Depends. I probably wouldn't rank Harden as a superstar. Howard probably qualifies due to his defense. Anthony... Borderline. You picked good players to ask about, I think all of them are borderline, and that gray area certainly clouds the issue.

So who, in your opinion, other than Lebron and Durant are un-questionable superstars in the NBA?

And I'm not sure if I like the WS/48 definition so much. By that definition, a guy like Pau Gasol suddenly 'became' a superstar after being traded from Memphis to the Lakers. I think playing with Kobe and Phil Jax coaching might have had something to do with that.

What about these guys? Kevin Love, Tyson Chandler, Nene (DEN), Jameer Nelson (ORL), Ryan Anderson (ORL), Bosh (TOR), Billups (DEN). They've all been over 0.200 WS. Are they superstars? When did Tim Duncan stop being a superstar?

Houston Rockets acquired not one, but two borderline superstars in their prime, and just got knocked out by Portland rather handily. And they've got some nice role players like Jones, Parsons, Lin and Beverley.

Our actual draft selections will answer this question
We can potentially trade up for a rotation player using some our assets (Hansbrough, Salmons)
It won't be a superstar, but Masai is great at finding talent in places like these
But the real gem that will make us into contenders is the 2016 pick

It's almost certain that Carmelo is leaving this summer
Knicks have cap space in 2015 but by that time, the roster will have no up and coming talent (save for Tim Hardaway and maybe Shumpert). Unless Hardaway comes up, I don't see free agents coming right away
So the pick is probably gonna be lottery for sure

- Do I like the team getting playoff experience? Absolutely.
- Do I like American media giving the city props? Damn skippy.
- Do I like our fans getting love from opposing players? You know it.
- Do I like DD, Ross and JV all learning they need to get stronger and better defensively? Of course.

The culture change has started. Less tank talk. More talk of how much we give Lowry to stay.

...I don't see free agents coming right away
So the pick is probably gonna be lottery for sure

Never underestimate the lure of the big apple on media conscious free agents. And huge dollars. Though, if they are crappy enough next year, they just might make player question why they would want to wade through the shit just to play in MSG.

Our actual draft selections will answer this question
We can potentially trade up for a rotation player using some our assets (Hansbrough, Salmons)
It won't be a superstar, but Masai is great at finding talent in places like these
But the real gem that will make us into contenders is the 2016 pick

It's almost certain that Carmelo is leaving this summer
Knicks have cap space in 2015 but by that time, the roster will have no up and coming talent (save for Tim Hardaway and maybe Shumpert). Unless Hardaway comes up, I don't see free agents coming right away
So the pick is probably gonna be lottery for sure